Posted on 06/15/2007 6:07:14 AM PDT by cilbupeR_eerF
A source inside the Russian space agency has told ABC News that there could be a "fatal flaw" with the station's main computer.
After working for a couple of days, the Russians still have no idea what the problem is, and they are pointing the finger at the Americans. They say that setting up the solar array sent electromagnetic interference into the computer, shutting it down.
The story is getting almost no coverage in the Russian media.
On the positive side, the space agency says that the station could fly for a few months without correcting its flight, meaning that even if the astronauts were forced to leave, there may be more time to fix the computer problems down the road. Russian astronauts wake up at 7 a.m. EDT to begin working again.....
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Isn't that mature of the Russians to take responsibility for flaw and cooperate with the Americans who have financed this project.
/s
The ISS coulda been the ASS, American Space Station. Not a horse’s rear.
Classic Russian tactic in the face of their own incompetence.
Must have used VISTA................It’s EVERYWHERE YOU DON’T WANNA BE............
Ignore the provocative headline!
ABC News is being irresponsible and just trying to stir a fight.
The correct story is the Russian computer has failed; the Russians are unsure why; they think the failure may be related to an emf interference from the new solar array. They clearly don’t think there was any intentional sabotage of the space station.
This story is very low on details. It implies that the computer failure is related to the ability of the station to give itself an orbital boost. But it doesn’t even hint at the connection. I’m not even sure how the station is boosted upwards to correct its orbit. Are there onboard rocket engines, or does it get boosted by a shuttle?
Also, I’ve always wondered, why doesn’t NASA gradually increase the orbit to a higher altitude? Is there some reason it couldn’t continue its mission as a geosynchronized space station, or even higher? It seems like the further from earth, the better the test of our ability to live in space. Just wondering.
The story is getting almost no coverage in the Russian media.
An why are we getting the story here? Americans fault.
They probably tried to install an anti-virus program without disabling the old one.
Yes we sunk the Kursk, and probably caused Chernobyl, too. [/s]
/s = sarcasm off (meaning previous text was sarcasm)
p.s. pardon me if your reply was a double entendre and was sarcastic as well. If so....LOL
The Russians called Senator Harry Reid and asked for advice.
Harry’s first suggestion was to call American Generals and the military incompetent.
Harry’s second suggestion was to just blame America in general.
W and Karl Rove conspired to destroy these computers. I’ll bet Karl did the dirty work himself.
...or maybe AOL.
The Shuttle boosts the ISS when it is there, and the Russian systems boost it when it isn’t.
As for Geosynch operations, the Shuttle can’t get there (that’s quite a hike) for assembly flights. For my confort level, I’d love to see a full 100 nautical miles added to the orbit when construction is complete.
As for the current troubles, the necessity of having two mission controls to coordinate the fix is very inconvenient. Clinton added the Russians into the command loop, and f*cked the system thoroughly. Now, we have to deal with his political “solution”.
Grrrrrr...
It still could be. Change the codes, change the locks, and voila - it's ours for the taking! Given that Russian industry built part of it, it may not be worth it, though. Even if you could get it for free, would you want a Yugo?
Its interesting that the Russian Astronaut’s sleep schedule is optimized for an American wake time.
The shuttle can't reach geosync orbit.
For my confort level, I’d love to see a full 100 nautical miles added to the orbit when construction is complete.Is that something that might actually happen, or just something you would like to see happen?
Also, you mentioned the range of the shuttle. What about after the station is fully constructed and the shuttles are retired? Is there some engineering reason why the shuttle couldn't be taken out to any distance, even an L5 point? Gradually, slowly, carefully, over a long period of time. Just wondering.
Dear Russia, don’t blame “Americans” — just blame Bill Gates, but you shouldn’t have tried to install MS Vista on the space station computers!! That will teach you to trust the latest OS from MSFT!!
The shuttle can't reach geosync orbit.Why not? Which of Newton's Laws restricts it?
Lev Andropov: This is how we fix things on Russian space station!
I imagine the costs would be very prohibitive. Geosynchronous orbits are around 35000km above earth and the shuttle hangs out around 300km above earth.
This was an issue with the Columbia's fateful last mission, if you remember. The Columbia -- being older than the other space shuttles -- couldn't even reach the space station because of these limitations.
Damn, that thing looks like an ignition source, not a surge protector.
“Is that something that might actually happen, or just something you would like to see happen?”
I’m not sure what the final orbital plan is, but I suspect the entire assembly will be boosted higher than its current altitude.
“Also, you mentioned the range of the shuttle. What about after the station is fully constructed and the shuttles are retired? Is there some engineering reason why the shuttle couldn’t be taken out to any distance, even an L5 point? Gradually, slowly, carefully, over a long period of time. Just wondering.”
There is no compelling reason to do such a thing. The Shuttle has an orbital “shelf life”, and by the time you did boost it there, it would just be a hazard to navigation. Boost the ISS higher and send lighter transport craft with a greater maximum service ceiling, that’s another story.
roflmbo....next headine:
The evidence is strong, but not yet sure, that the International Space Station (like Alexander Litvinenko), was killed by a dose of a rare radioactive substance called polonium 210.....
You can’t launch something as massive as the shuttle much higher - the fuel required would be more than you could launch from the ground, and refueling on-orbit for a second leg is not in the Shuttle design.
now that’s funny
Don’t forget, Apple can connect with everything, including Alien motherships in Earth orbit. The Mac OS can deliver viruses and nukes all in a day’s work.
Hahaha, awesome
I miss those cartoons.
I couldn’t sell that for scrap metal.
The Russians may be correct in asserting the problem was caused by EMI generated during the solar panel installation. What the Russians don’t say is that their computers didn’t meet NASA requirements (MIL-STD-461D) for EMI susceptibilty and got zapped.
Thanks. I didn’t know.
Thanks. Interesting.
If I just installed a solar panel on my house and my TV stopped working the first thing I would do would be to unplug the solar panel and see if the TV is working again. If it does, then either the solar panel is screwing up the TV or the TV doesn't meet the specs to which the solar panels were designed (sure we said it would work at 120 V, but it dies if you put in more than 110 V).
I don't know how many times I've talked to my dad about his computer not working right. Most of the time it is like pulling teeth to find out what program he just installed (sometimes minutes before he noticed the failure) and walk him through removing the software.
Now which is really the problem will take a while to determine, but for practical matters the computer is vital to the operation of the station, while the solar panels are just a nice addition for now.
Is this “Real Info” or speculation?
Oh come on. Captain Kirk would never do a thing like that, except in a case of self defense. They are such Klingons, making accusations like this.
And I would be surprised to find out that those pesky Americans fixed the computers.
They must have gotten a “Blue Screen of Death.”
I wonder how long it’ll take the Indian “outsourced” technician to talk them through a system restore to last week?
The orbit is less than ideal for shuttle (NASA), because it's there to hamper and drain American space efforts.
Columbia's last mission was to the ISS. There's a book out by a Canadian author about that ISS crew's tour after buttoning them up for the return to Earth.
Someone ought to teach the Russkies about the “three-fingered salute.”
It can be so hard to tell what is paranoia and what is just their cynical hubris.
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